Influence of phenobarbital pretreatment on tissue catecholamine content of various animal species

The influence of phenobarbital pretreatment on tissue catecholamine content was studied in various animal species. The results reported in this communication whow that such pretreatment increases the catecholamine content of the adrenal and the male accessory sexual tissues of the guinea-pig and the rabbit, while with the rat and hamster, only the adrenaline content of the adrenals was increased. In the female guinea-pig, there was an increase in the catecholamine content of the adrenals and the female accessory sexual tissues. It was concluded that the difference observed among species may be related either to the different type of adrenergic innervation or to a different influence of the adrenal gland on the sexual accessory tissues.